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Ch.13-Cracking Glass

I excused myself from Emma's and thanked her for the brownies, and drove off to where Alec had requested I meet him. It occurred to me how wrong this whole summer vacation was. I was supposed to relax, maybe go to the beach once or twice, drink a smoothie. But instead I was caught up in the hurricane that was Alec, enduring the repercussions and now caught in the mystery of my grandfather. Heart was clearly the wrong place to go wanting an escape.

Eerie chills raced over my skin at the familiar path I drove along. I did not fail to remember that the last time I had been around these parts, Alec had cut his leg open and knocked himself silly. It definitely wasn't high up on the list of places I wanted to be in that moment.

I saw him standing along the side of the road, leaning up against a tree. I parked the car and hopped out, sidling right up to him.

"Okay," I said. "I'm here."

He nodded, saying nothing. As per usual.

"Have you been here all day?"

Another nod.

"Doing what?"

That got me an answer. "Trying to decide whether to tell you or not."

I folded my arms over my chest. "Well, why wouldn't you?"

"Because you can be a nosy, stubborn, hot-headed pain in the ass."

"Thanks."

"But you're honest and you help people. And you can keep a secret."

Now I was intrigued. "A secret?"

He nodded, gesturing for me to follow him into the woods. "Yep." He ducked under a branch, one I narrowly avoided. "You will be the only one to know what I'm about to tell you."

"I'm privileged."

"Try not to sound too excited."

"No. Not at all. I'm actually honored you would even think to tell me."

He snorted. "Angel's out of town."

"Ah. And the truth comes out."

"But you were the next best thing. At least you talk to me." he stopped walking, and I moved out from behind him. We were in a weird clearing, a decrepit shed falling apart about twenty feet away.

"What the hell is all this?" I questioned.

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans, striding toward the shed. I followed after him.

"That thing doesn't look safe," I pointed out. "I don't think you should-or not," I trailed off, when he ducked through the open doorway. I sighed heavily and did the same.

It was empty inside, apart from two couches facing each other shoved up against a wall. Dust was everywhere. I sneezed. Alec took a seat on one of the couches and gestured for me to do the same on the one opposite him. I did so reluctantly.

"So here we are," I said, fighting the urge to sneeze again. "Get to talking."

"I need your help."

I leaned back. "So you said."

"I lied."

"Yeah, kind of pissed about that."

He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees and hands dangling. "I don't hate your grandfather," he began, staring hard at his hands. "In fact, he's probably the one person in this world I respect, besides Angel. He's never given me any crap before about my condition or who I am. And I knew he would let me stay with him if I needed somewhere to go."